Electric lamp



United States Patent Chime 3,625,392 Patented Mar. 13, 1962 3,025,392 ELECTRIC LAMP Joseph Worth, 55 W. Montrose Ave., South Orange, NJ. Filed Oct. 14, 1958, Ser. No. 767,198 7 Claims. (Cl. 240-81) This invention relates to electric lamps, and in particular is concerned with the hardware for an electric lamp of the type including an internal bulb.

The provision of an electric bu-lb within the body of an electric lamp is well known. However, considerable difiiculty always has been experienced in replacing the bulb when it became defective. An access opening had to be included for this purpose, which it was aesthetically and economically undesirable to form in the body of the lamp. But it also was undesirable to secure ac cess to the bulb through the base of the lampinasmuoh i as such arrangement infiexibly required locating the in ternal bulb quite near the base of the lamp, made it unhandy to screw the internal bulb firmly in its socket and unless a special covering was provided for the access opening, layer of felt ordinarily adhered acrossthe bottom of the lamp. Accordingly, the Underwriters have frowned on such arrangements and manufacturers have been reluctant to use an internal bulb.

It is an object of my invention to provide a new type of hardware for an electric lamp which permits ready access to an internal bulb, does not require a special access opening, does not restrict the location of the internal bulb to any particular position within the lamp body, does not require the removal of the bottom layer of felt, and allows the internal bulb to be handily and firmly screwed in its socket.

It is another object of my invention to provide hardware of the character described which enables an internal bulb to be changed without taking the entire lamp apart or exposing wires, and preferably by simply temporarily lifting an upper part of a multi-section lamp body.

It is another object of my invention to provide hardware of the character described which facilitates the mutual centering of the parts of a multi-section lamp body, the term body as used herein including the lamp base.

It is another object of myinvention to provide hardware of the character described whichpermit-s the parts of the lamp body to be firmly clamped together without fear of pinching or twisting the internal wiring of the lamp. a i

It is another objject of my invention to provide hardware of the character described which permits ready disassembly of at least two parts of a lamp body one of which has anopening zone of disassembly.

It is another object of my invention to provide an electric lamp utilizing hardware such as described.

Other objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the device hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view through an assembled table lam'pincluding hardware constructed in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. l'bu'tshowing the hardware and lamp manipulated to lift the cover of the lamp body and thereby provide access to the internal bulb;

necessitated the removal of the bottom FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the upper section of the hardware, the same being shown to an enlarged scale and with some of the elements in partial or full section;

FIG. 4 is a perspective partly broken away view of the lower section of said hardware;

1 FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional View taken substantially along the line '6--6 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 denotes an electric table lamp utilizing hardware 12 constructed in accordance with the present invention. Inasmuch as the principal feature of the present invention relates to the utilization of an internal electric bulb, in the preferred form of my invention the lamp is so constructed as to permit light to emanate from the body. Accordingly, at least a portion of the body, if desired, the entire body, is made of pellucid material, e.g., transparent or translucent material, although it will be understood that perforate opaque materials also may be employed.

Typically, thebody of a lamp employing my invention will be made in whole or at least in part of a transparent material such, for instance, as glass or clear plastic, or a translucent material such as china, frosted glass or alabaster. The lamp 10 illustrated in the drawings utilizes alabaster. Thus, specifically, the lamp 10 includes an alabaster body 14. The body is hollow to accommodate an internal bulb 16. The body is comprised of three parts, to wit, a base 18, an urn-shaped intermediate part 20, and a cover 22. Each of these is shaped to provide a pleasing external contour.

The base, for example, has a wide bottom, for the purpose of stable equilibrium, and a narrow top. The base is centrally bored to form a vertical through passageway 24 the lower end of which terminates in an enlarged cavity 26 extending upwardly from the bottom of the base. In addition, the base is provided with a lateral passageway 28 extending from the cavity 26 radially outwardly to the exterior surface of the base.

The bottom of the inte mediate part 20 is flat and the top of the base is matchmgly shaped so that the intermediate part can be seated steadily on the base. As a matter of design, the bottom of the intermediate part '20 is fabricated to substantially the same diameter as the top of the base 18. The intermediate part has a large internal cavity 30 which extends downwardly from the open top of said part and terminates at a'bottom wall 32 lying in a plane perpendicular to the height of the lamp. The cavity 30 is connected to the bottom of'the intermediate part by a through passageway 34 in the wall 32, preferably having the same diameter as that of the passageway 24 and occupying the same position with respect to the bottom of the intermediate part that the passageway 24 occupies with respect to the top of the base whereby when the base and intermediate part are lined up, the two passageways will be in registry.

The cover 22 is fashioned with a central vertical through passageway 36 which, when the cover is centered on the intermediate part, is in registry with the passageways 24, 34. To insure proper alignment of the cover on the intermediate part, said cover includes a downwardly extending shallow broad boss 38 concentrically arranged with respect to the passageway iafi and of such outer diameter as to nicely fitwithin the open upper end of the cavity 30.

The base, intermediate portion and cover are made from.-alabaster and, when assembled in alignment on one another, present a decorative appearance with an opening extending from the top to the bottom thereof, this being conventional in the body of a lamp.

It may be mentioned that in the lamp shown the base may be opaque, e.g., fabricated from metal. Likewise the intermediate part or the cover, but not both and preferably not the intermediate part, likewise may be opaque.

The lamp further includes a lamp socket 40 adapted to receive the principal electric light bulb 42 of the lamp and a standard harp 44 the base fitting 46 of which, as usual, has a central apertured flat portion 48.

Pursuant to the present invention, I provide the hardware 12 which has the dual function of holding the parts of the body together and of supplying electricity (with the aid, to be sure, of electric wires) to both the principal electric bulb 42 and the internal electric bulb 16, the hardware being so constructed as to permit at least two of the body parts to be moved toward and away from one another whereby access to the internal electric bulb is rapid and easy.

To this end, the hardware includes two tubes 50, 52, the tube 52 being telescopically receivable within the tube 50. Both tubes preferably are of metal as are preferably all the remaining parts of the hardware 12 except the insulation for the electric wires.

The outer tube 50 is of uniform circular cross-section with the exception of a short intermediate part 54 (see FIGS. 1 and 6) where said tube is fashioned with diametrically opposed parallel flats that transform its circular configuration into a non-circular transverse section. These flats may be quite simply provided, for example, merely by indenting locally the opposite sides of the outer tube. The specific shape of the flats is not material, their only purpose being to mutilate and at least in one dimension constrict at this part of the outer tube the uniform transverse section thereof. The tube 50 is quite long, its length being suflicient to extend from slightly, e.g., about one quarter of an inch, above the top of the cover to slightly more, e.g., about one half of an inch, below the bottom of the top wall of the cavity 26 in the base. More succinctly phrased, the length of the outer tube is in excess of the overall central length of the assembled parts of the body with which it cooperates.

The inner tube 52 has a uniform longitudinal crosssection which slida'bly matches that of the outer tube 50 at the distorted section 54 as best can be seen in FIG. 6. That is to say, the inner tube has a mutilated circular cross-section, diametrically opposite longitudinal portions of the tube being provided with flats that match the interior surfaces of the flats at the distorted portion 54. This permits the inner tube to be axially translatable (slidable) within the outer tube 50, so that the inner tube can telescope into the outer tube or project therefrom. However, the same arrangement prevents relative angular movement therebetween. The length of the inner tube is of the same order as that of the outer tube.

For operation, as will be appreciated hereinafter, the top of the inner tube is movable from a normal telescoped position in which it is a short distance, e.g., three quarters of an inch, above the top of the outer tube, to an extended internal-bulb-replacing position in which it is well above its normal position. In the former position of the inner tube, the lower end of said tube is adjacent the lower end of the outer tube. It will be seen as the description proceeds that the hardware will be operable if the lower end of the inner tube in normal position is anywhere from slightly above the bottom of the base 18 to somewhat above the bottom of the outer tube 50. In the preferred form of my invention the bottoms of the two tubes are approximately level with one another when the hardware is in normal position inasmuch as nothing is to be gained by using a longer inner tube and since the employment of a shorter inner tube restricts the degree of relative movement of the two tubes because the inner tube must not be withdrawn from the outer tube to an extent sufficient to permit disengagement between the inner tube and the non-circular portion 54 of the outer tube.

The two tubes mutually define a twin central stem which extends through the passageways 24, 34 and 36 as well as the cavity 30 with the upper tip of the stem above the upper open end of the cavity 30 and the lower tip of the stem below the lower terminus of the passageway 24.

In order to permanently clamp together the intermediate part 20 and the base 18, I provide an outwardly extending protuberance, e.g., an annular ridge 56, on the outer tube 50 in the vicinity of the bottom wall 32 of the intermediate part. Said ridge engages the upper surface of a washer 58. The central bore of said washer slidingly passes the outer tube 50. Moreover, to assist in alignment, the washer is depressed around its central opening to form what in effect constitutes an annular centered rib 60. Said rib is located on the undersurface of the washer and protrudes into the passageway 34. The outer diameter of the rib 60 is substantially equal to the diameter of the passageway 34 so that when the rib is received within the passageway, the washer and twin stem will be centered with respect to the intermediate part 20. It will be observed (see FIG. 4) that the washer 58 includes a notch 62 which extends radially outwardly from and is in communication with the central opening of the washer. Said notch is provided, as soon will be appreciated, to receive and pass the electric wire for the internal bulb 16. It should be pointed out that the outer tube 50 is sufliciently smaller than the passageways 24, 34 in which it is centered to provide an annular space large enough to freely pass an electric wire.

The washer 58 constitutes only the upper element of the clamping means. The lower element comprises a cupshaped washer 64 located within the cavity 26 in the base 18 of the lamp body. The cup-shaped washer includes a bottom wall 65 having a central opening 66 through which the lower end of the outer tube 50 protrudes. The skirt, i.e., peripheral flange, 68 of the washer 64 extends upwardly into engagement with the upper wall of the cavity 26. A notch 70 is formed in the skirt 68 to receive and pass the same electric wire as that which extends through the notch 62. The lower end of the outer tube 50 is externally threaded to be engaged by a nut 72.

To join the lamp base 18 and intermediate part 20, the latter is placed on the base with the passageways 24 and 34 in alignment. A length of electric wire 74 is threaded through the notch 62. The washer 58 is slipped on the lower end of the twin stem with the rib 60 lowermost and said stem is introduced into the passageways 34, 24 until the lower end thereof emerges into the cavity 26. Now the washer 64 is slipped over the lower end of the outer tube and the electric wire 74 passed through the notch 70. Finally, the nut 72 is screwed onto the lower end of the tube 50 and tightened to permanently and securely clamp together the intermediate part and base of the lamp body. It will be seen that this permits the electric wire 74 to be shifted back and forth in a direction generally parallel to the tube 50 without interfering with tight clamping together of the two parts of the lamp body.

The upper end of the outer tube 50 is externally threaded as at 75 to receive a coupling 76. The coupling is formed with female threads at both its upper and lower ends, these threads, however, being discontinuous, i.e., unconnected to one another. Moreover, the upper female thread 76a is of larger diameter than the lower. The lower female thread 76b meshes with the male thread 75 at the upper end of the outer tube 50. The upper female thread receives an externally threaded bushing 78 having at its upper end an outwardly extending flange 78a which is knurled for convenience of manipulation. A similar flange 79 is formed at the upper end of the coupling 76.

The inner tube 52 which is telescopically received within the outer tube 50 is provided near its upper end with an annular outwardly extending ring 80. Conveniently,

the ring is rigidly held in place at its desired location on the inner tube by forming the upper end of the inner tube with a threaded end 81 which receives an internally threaded sleeve 82. Specifically, the ring 80 constitutes a nut which is screwed on the threaded upper end of the inner tube to the point where said threads cease, this defining the position of the ring. Then the sleeve 82 is screwed onto the same end of the tube so as to act as a lock nut maintaining the ring in its defined position. The inner clear diameter of the upper end of the coupling 76 is suificiently large to snugly admit the ring 80. Moreover, the bushing 78 is of such axial length that when screwed tight into the upper end of the coupling, the clear space between the lower end of the bushing and the screw thread 76b is just slightly greater than the height of the ring. Thus, when said bushing and coupling are assembled with the ring therebetween, the ring will be captively held in position, being restrained against axial movement relative to the assembly but being rotatable with respect thereto. Inasmuch as the ring is fast on the inner tube 50, such arrangement enables the combined coupling and bushing assembly to be turned with respect to the inner tube but to be axially fast thereon.

To detachably hold the cover 22 in place over the open upper end of the intermediate part 20, said cover, after being slipped down with the outer tube 52 (with the upper ends of the tubes still unencumbered), is seated on the intermediate part. Then a metal check ring 84 likewise is slipped over the outer tube and is seated at the top of the cover. Next, the lower end of the coupling 76 is screwed on the threaded upper end 75 of the outer tube 52. This forces the cover 22 down against the intermediate part and removably locks the same in place. Now the inner tube is lifted and the nut 80 and sleeve 82 successively screwed thereon. Thereafter, the inner tube is dropped and the bushing 78 screwed into the coupling.

The threaded upper end of the inner tube 52 protrudes above the sleeve 82 to engage the usual lamp components. In the lamp shown herein these include the harp 44 and socket 40. The upper threaded tip of the inner tube protrudes through the aperture in the flat portion 48 of the harp and is threaded into the usual tapped lower end 40a of the lamp socket.

It now will be apparent that if it is desired to temporarily disassemble the lamp body to the extent that the cover 22 may be lifted, it simply is necessary to unscrew the coupling 76 from the upper end of the outer tube. Thereupon the inner tube together with the couplingbushing assembly, the harp and the socket can be raised. Nothing now prevents the cover 22 similarly from being raised to thereby 'provide access to the interior of the intermediate part 20.

Attention is drawn to the fact that when the coupling 76 is unscrewed from the. outer tube 52, the socket 40 and lamp harp 44, together with the shade (not shown) carried thereby, need not rotate due to the relative rotary movement permitted between the ring 80 and the bushingcoupling assembly. Indeed, such turning movement of the socket, harp and shade is prevented by the non-circular cross-section of the inner tube and the matching crosssection of the distorted part of the outer tube. It also will be appreciated that this movement which permits temporary raising of the inner tube 50 and cover 22 does not relax the firm interengagement between the intermediate part 20 and base 18.

The internal bulb 16 is received in an internal socket 86 located within the interior of the intermediate part 20 and specifically placed at any position that the manufacturer or retailer may desire. The socket 86 is of standard construction, the one herein illustrated being of the type adapted to be employed with a miniature lamp bulb such as the bulb 16. Said socket is held in place in any convenient fashion, preferably being secured to the outer tube 52 as with a pair of clamping strips 88 (see FIG. located on diametrically opposite sides of the socket and outer tube. One set of endsof the two strips are held against opposite flat faces of the socket as by a long-shanked rivet 90. The other set of ends of the two strips are fashioned with facing concave-grooves which engage opposite sides of the outer tube. These grooves are forced firmly against the outer tube as with a bolt 92 the shank of which passes through one clear opening in one of the strips and is threaded to be screwed into a registered tapped opening in the other strip whereby turning the bolt in one direction draws the two concave ends together.

One end of the electric wire 74 is connected to the socket 86 and thereby to the internal bulb 16. The wire leads down the passageways 24, 34 (outside the outer tube 50) into the cavity 26, as noted hereinabove, and then up through the inner tube 52 to the socket 40. A second electric wire 94 is provided at one end with an attachment plug 96-. The other end of the electric wire 94 extends through the lateral passageway 28 being knotted at both ends of the passageway for strain relief in both directions. Said second wire likewise runs up through the inner tube 52 to the socket 40. It will be observed that when the lamp is in itsnormal operative position as shown in FIG. 1, both wires 74 and 94 are overly long and the excesses of their lengths are in the form of loops located within the cavity 26. This permits such excess lengths to be drawn up within the outer tube 50 when the inner tube and, therefore, the socket 40 are disengaged from the outer tube and raised.

A conventional four-position switch (not shown) is provided in the socket 40. Inone position of the switch no current is fed to either the socket 86 or the socket 40; in the second position of the switch current is fed to one of the sockets 86, 4-0; in the third position of the switch current is fed to the other of the sockets 86, 40; and in the fourth position of the switch current is fed to both of said sockets.

When it is desired to remove the internal bulb 16, the coupling-bushing assembly is unscrewed from the outer tube and raised; then the cover 22 is lifted, thus giving access to the internal bulb 16. It will be noted that in this procedure it was not necessary to remove the felt layer 98 which is applied and adhesively held to the bottom of the base 18 and permanently closes the cavity 26.

It will be observed that it is desirable to limit the outward movement of the inner tube with respect to the outer'tube 50 without relying on the lengths of the electric wires. This is accomplished by a flared annular lip 100 (see FIG. 7) at the lower end of the inner tube which engages the lower ends of the flats at the mutilated part 54 of the outer tube.

It thus will be seen that I have provided an electric lamp which carries out the several objects of my invention and is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be iterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An electric lamp comprising a body constituting at least two abutting parts mutually defining a hollow, at least one of said parts being pellucid, an outer tube, an inner tube telescopically received within said outer tube and axially slidable with respect thereto, said tubes being associated with said parts, means adjacent one end of one of said tubes engaging one of said parts and means on the other of said tubes adjacent the end thereof furthest from the first-named end of said one tube and engaging the other part, said tubes when in telescoped position being substantially wholly contained within said parts, means detachably securing said tubes to one another against relative axial movement, an internal socket disposed in said hollow, and an electric wire running to said socket.

2. An electric lamp comprising a body constituting at least two abutting parts mutually defining a hollow, at least one of said parts being pellucid, an outer tube, an inner tube telescopically received within said outer tube and axially slidable with respect thereto, said tubes being associated with said parts, means adjacent one end of one of said tubes engaging one of said parts and means on the other of said tubes adjacent the end thereof furthest from the first-named end of said one tube and engaging the other part, said tubes when in telescoped position being substantially wholly contained within said parts, means detachably securing said tubes to one another against relative axial movement, an internal socket disposed in said hollow, an electric lighting element carried by said inner tube, and an electric wire running from said electric lighting element through said inner tube to said internal socket.

3. An electric lamp comprising a body constituting at least two abutting parts mutually defining a hollow, at least one of said parts being pellucid, a first elongated member, a second elongated member, means connecting said members to one another for relative slidable movement parallel to the longitudinal axes of said members for movement from a mutually contracted position to a mutually expanded position, said members in contracted position being substantially wholly concealed within said parts, said first member having means adjacent an end thereof engaging one of said parts and said second member having means adjacent the end thereof remotest from the first-named end of the first member and engaging the other part, means detachably securing said members to one another against relative axial movement, whereby when the last-named means is rendered inelfective, said members may be slid with respect to one another to permit the two parts to be separated and provide access to the hollow, an internal socket disposed in said hollow, and an electric wire running to said socket.

4. An electric lamp comprising a body constituting at least a cover, a hollow intermediate part having an upper open end and a base, said intermediate part and base having registered openings, said cover having an opening, an outer tube extending through the openings in the intermediate part and base, said outer tube being sufficiently smaller than said last-named openings to permit an electric wire to be accommodated in the space between said openings and said outer tube, spaced members associated with said outer tube and respectively engaging the intermediate part and the base, means to urge said last-named members toward one another so as to clamp the intermediate part to the base, said members having openings therein connecting with the openings in said intermediate part and base to pass an electric wire, an inner tube telescopically received within said outer tube and axially slidable with respect thereto, means on said inner tube engaging the cover and pressing the cover against the intermediate part, and means detachably securing the tubes to one another against relative axial movement when the means on the inner tube presses the cover against the intermediate part, whereby when said securing means is rendered ineffective said tubes may be slid with respect to one another to permit the cover to be raised and provide access to the interior part.

5. An electric lamp comprising a body constituting at least two abutting parts mutually defining a hollow, a first tube having a non-circular portion, a second tube telescopically received within said first tube and axially slidable with respect thereto, said second tube having a section matching the non-circular portion of the first tube so that the two tubes are non-rotatable with respect to one another, means fixing the outer tube adjacent one end thereof to one of said parts, means rotatable with respect to said tubes and axially fixed to said second tube adjacent an end thereof remotest from the first-named end of the outer tube for detachably securing said members to one another against relative axial movement, said tubes when in telescoped position being substantially wholly concealed within said parts, said last-named means experiencing axial movement relative to said first tube during the securing operation, said last-named means during said operation pressing against the other part and clamping said two parts against one another.

6. An electric lamp comprising a body including a part having an opening therein, a stem extending through said opening, the diameter of said stem being sufficiently smaller than said opening to permit an electric wire to be accommodated in the space between said opening and said stem, a member carried by said stem and bearing against said part adjacent the one terminus of said opening, said member being shaped to admit an electric wire to said opening, a washer carried by said stem, said Washer having a skirt the rim of which bears against said part adjacent and around the other terminus of said opening, said skirt having a notch therein to pass said electric wire, the end of the stem adjacent said washer being threaded, and a nut screwed on said end to force said washer against said part.

7. An electric lamp comprising a body constituting at least two parts at least one of which is thick, each of said parts having a straight through opening, said openings being in registry to define a straight passageway, a stern extending through said passageway, the diameter of said stem being sufliciently smaller than said passageway to permit an electric wire to be accommodated in the space between said passageway and said stem, a protuberance on the stem adjacent one end of the passageway, a washer slidable on said stem and pressed by said protuberance against one of said parts, said washer having an annular ridge concentric with the stem and snugly fitting in the passageway to center the stem with respect to the passageway, and a member carried by said stem remote from said protuberance and bearing against the other part adjacent the other end of said opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,029,232 Schaefier et al. June 11, 1912 1,068,127 l-Iellweg July 22, 1913 1,719,401 Plaut July 2, 1929 2,167,458 Lieberman July 25, 1939 2,240,608 Chaplick May 6, 1941 2,364,617 Boster Dec. 12, 1944 2,378,850 Hyre June 19, 1945 2,638,533 Zobian May 12, 1953 2,930,096 Haber Mar. 29, 1960 

